Improving Bounce Rates…. Step by Step

A common question amongst Website owners is “how many visitors do you get?”  The question of choice should be “how many net visitors do you get?”  Gross visitor totals paint an unreliable portrait of Website activity.  It is not uncommon to see bounce rates (number of visitors who view 1 page and exit promptly… divided by the total number of visits) of  60- 70+ percent!  What this means is a gross monthly visitor total of 5000 visits with an average bounce rate of 65% yields a net visitor total of just 1750 visits.

The task at hand is to identify where and why bounces occur.  Listed below are typical bounce blunders:

1. Your Website content does not engage the visitor
2. The keywords you have optimized are not driving the right audience
3. Your landing pages are Flash-filled and offer no compelling information
4. Broad match results are delivering untargeted or broad keyword phrases

Steps to reducing your bounce rates:

1. Always begin your organic and paid campaigns with comprehensive keyword research
2. Ensure your landing pages contain content related to the search query
3. Ensure your landing pages engage the visitor
4. Run a search query report for your paid campaign to identify and remove untargeted keyword phrases
5. Test your phrases using broad, phrase and exact match
6. Test paid ads, page titles and descriptions for organic search results

Carefully assessing keyword phrases, ads and landing pages followed by ongoing revisions to these areas based on analytical data will decrease bounce rates.

Let our Search Marketing Consultants recommend the right steps for your website. Call 440-914-4250 for more information on our Bouce Rate Consulting Services.

Why Good Web Design Matters

As the number of business websites accessible via search engines grows to astronomical proportions, the cardinal rule of “content is king” may steer those who are creating a new website or redesigning an old, in the wrong direction. YES, what words or text you have on your website matters so that your visitors can find you in search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN. But if visitors get to you and can’t easily find the information or products they want on your site, or the design isn’t pleasing to the eye, you will lose that visitor to the next website listed on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

This list highlights 10 bad design issues to avoid if you intend to build a truly great website that is also visitor friendly.

1. Poor quality images, blurry or fuzzy
2. Too much bold or italicized text
3. Frames! (an outdated website building platform)
4. Graphics that look like a link but are not (confused the visitor!)
5. No contact information or not enough methods to “Contact Us” (form, phone, address)
6. Too many graphics & images or “graphics heavy”
7. Too many unmatched font types
8. A non-working back button
9. Placing navigation and graphics where users least expect them to be

The old saying, “you only have one chance to make a good first impression” applies to your website. If that coveted visitor gets to your site and does not like what they see, you will lose them and they won’t return.

Search Marketing & Web Design Professionals can help you . If you are in need of a website usability study or analysis of your current website, or require experienced assistance in designing and building a new website, contact us today for more information.